Record distribution

SPECIAL SKILLS

To be successful, you should be

people-oriented, have a sense of humor,

and be able to motivate people.

Experience in retail music sales or

record company sales is important.

A DAY IN THE LIFE

Monday morning Alan Shapiro's

first point of business is to check sales

figures for the previous weekend. He

focuses on orders for new product,

including quantities, and reviews which

titles stores have and have not ordered.

He calls his field staff to discuss sales

strategy and reviews sales of special pro-

motions and discount programs. Then he meets with his boss to review sales progress

title by title. In the afternoon, Shapiro formulates activities for the rest of the week

and talks with each record label about new releases, radio airplay, television appear-

ances, and any other promotional information that might help the field sales staff.

Throughout the day he handles phone calls and various managerial duties.

To be a successful salesperson,

you must treat everyone like a

potential friend. "People are

willing to do things for you if

you treat them like human

beings."

"My management style is to

make people around me relax

and avoid tension. I think if

you joke with your fellow

workers, you get a lot more out

of them. It takes the edge off

things."

LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT THIS JOB:

"The toughest thing for me to handle is the intense pressure. There is

so much money being put into records, and rightfully so, but when a

record isn't happening, it's really tough to face the labels and tell

them."

THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS JOB:

"Our new releases come out on Tuesday and it's a whole new ballgame

every week. Every day there are new stories to tell. Vitamin C added

85 radio stations last week and we picked up another 80 stations this

week. Faith Hill is crossing over to pop and she has two Pepsi commer-

cials. To break a brand new artist is very rewarding."

Record distribution - Page 2